The Hindu Business Line : Inflation rate dips on cheaper manufactured items

New Delhi, Aug. 17 The annual wholesale price index-based inflation rate rose 4.05 per cent during the week ended August 4, lower than the previous week’s annual rise of 4.45 per cent.

The dip in the year-on-year inflation rate was mainly on account of a fall in food and manufactured product prices, Government data showed on Friday.

The wholesale price index declined by 0.1 per cent to 213.1 points during the week under review, from 213.4 points during the previous week.

Inflation stood at 5.08 per cent during the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

Tea dearer

Among the primary articles’ group, the index for food articles declined by 0.7 per cent to 220.3 points, from 221.8 points for the previous week, due to lower prices of fruits and vegetables and poultry chicken (five per cent each), ragi (three per cent) and moong and fish-marine (one per cent each). However, the prices of tea (seven per cent), arhar (four per cent) and rice, milk and masur (one per cent each) moved up.

The index for ’non-food articles’ group rose by 0.3 per cent to 210.3 points, from 209.7 points for the previous week, due to higher prices of niger seed (22 per cent) and gingelly seed and groundnut seed (one per cent each). However, the prices of fodder (six per cent) declined.

ATF higher

The fuel, power, light and lubricants’ group index rose 0.1 per cent to 322.1 points, from 321.9 points during the previous week, due to higher prices of aviation turbine fuel (4 per cent) and furnace oil (one per cent).

The manufactured products’ group declined by 0.1 per cent to 185.6 points, from 185.7 points for the previous week.

Among this group, the food products’ group index declined by 0.1 per cent to 186.7 points, from 186.9 points for the previous week, due to lower prices of bran by five per cent, imported edible oil (two per cent) and oil cakes, gingelly oil and sunflower oil (one per cent each). The index for paper and paper products group rose by 0.2 per cent due to higher prices of cream laid woven paper (two per cent) and map litho paper (one per cent).

Pig iron lower

The index for base metals alloys and metal products group declined by 0.3 per cent due to lower prices of basic pig iron and foundry pig iron (four per cent each), zinc ingots and steel sheets, plates and strips (one per cent each). The index for ‘Machinery & Machine Tools’ group rose 0.1 per cent due to higher prices of batteries (two per cent). Inflation rate stood unchanged at 4.28 per cent for the week ended June 22.

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